Aryna Sabalenka has capped a brilliant season by finishing the year at world No.1.
The sparkling achievement serves as reward for an unforgettable 2024 campaign, during which she defended her Australian Open title and won her first US Open.
Now a three-time major winner, Sabalenka became only the second woman this century – after Angelique Kerber in 2016 – to win both hard-court Grand Slam titles in the same year.
But she’s not content to stop there.
“I always wanted to dominate the tour like Serena [Williams] did, like Iga [Swiatek] was able to do for so long,” Sabalenka told Arab News at the WTA Finals, where her season ended with a semifinal loss to Coco Gauff.
“It’s really inspiring and of course I want to dominate the tour like they did. But I’m trying to focus on myself, on improving myself, to make sure that I have all of the tools to dominate the tour as they did.”
Not since Williams dominated at the Slams from late 2014 to early 2017 – in that period Serena reached 10 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals and won six titles – has a player performed as consistently well at the majors.
Since mid 2021, Sabalenka has reached at least the semifinals at nine of her past 12 Slams. In that time only one other woman has notched six appearances in the last four at the majors: Swiatek.
GRAND SLAM SEMIFINALS: Since Wimbledon 2021
9
Aryna Sabalenka
6
Iga Swiatek
4
Coco Gauff
3
Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur, Karolina Muchova
2
Jasmine Paolini, Madison Keys, Ash Barty
After the Pole claimed the honours in back-to-back clay-court finals in Madrid and Rome, she was on the receiving end of a 6-3 6-3 Sabalenka onslaught in the Cincinnati semifinals.
Two months later, Sabalenka ended Swiatek’s uninterrupted 50-week reign at world No.1.
